Old Westbury, N.Y. (March 21, 2009) – Junior Matt Sullivan (West Islip, N.Y.) scored the game-winning goal with :57 seconds left in regulation to give the No. 1 NYIT men’s lacrosse team a 9-8 win over No. 8 Dowling College this afternoon in East Coast Conference action. Senior Keith Henderson (Port Jeff Station, N.Y.) scored a game-high four goals and added an assist to help the Bears remain unbeaten at 5-0 on the season and 1-0 in the ECC. The loss drops Dowling to 2-3 overall and 0-1 in the conference. Dowling rallied from an 8-3 deficit in the third quarter by scoring five straight goals and eventually tying the score at 8-8 midway through the fourth quarter.

Junior Austin Carino (Huntington, N.Y.) got the Bears on the scoreboard early in the first quarter, scoring off a feed from senior Jeremy Hobson (Riverhead, N.Y.) with 12:53 on the clock. Dowling came right back just over a minute later as John McClure scored to tie the game at 1-1. The Bears offense took over at that point, scoring four consecutive goals, including one from Carino, two straight from Henderson and a well-earned goal from senior defenseman Andrew Maurer (E. Setauket, N.Y.), who cleared the ball and ran the length of the field to score. Dowling’s Tom Oswald scored a goal similar to Maurer’s with 2:20 left in the first, but on the ensuing stick check, he was called for an illegal stick. The goal was disallowed and Oswald was in the penalty box for three minutes. Dowling killed-off the penalty though and the Bears ended the first quarter with a 5-1 lead.

The two teams would only combine for three goals in the second quarter. Dowling scored first to make it a 5-2 game, but Henderson would score both of the Bears goals to help NYIT head into the half with a 7-2 lead.

The third quarter was scoreless for the first 10 minutes, until Dowling’s Kyle O’Brien scored with 4:26 on the clock to bring the Golden Lions to within 7-3. Junior Matt Ryan (Massapequa, N.Y.) responded for the Bears, scoring off of a feed from Henderson just over a minute later push NYIT’s lead back to 8-3. But Dowling responded once again as McClure netted his second of the game :30 seconds later to make the score 8-4. When McClure scored with :35 seconds left in the third quarter to make it an 8-5 game, the momentum began swinging into Dowling’s favor. The Golden Lions offensive outburst continued into the fourth as Dowling scored the first three goals, eventually tying the score at 8-8 on a goal from Justion Bunton with 7:45 to play. Both teams had their chances down the stretch to regain the lead, but neither could convert until Sullivan beat his man from behind the cage and slid a shot over the shoulder of Dowling keeper Ryan Dougherty for the win.

Senior Chris Powers (Salt Lake City, Utah) was stellar in goal for the Bears, making 10 saves, including several from point-blank range. Dougherty made nine saves in the net for the Golden Lions.

The Bears return to action next Saturday as they travel to Molloy College for an ECC contest at 1 p.m.